So when I first started doing research about guns prior to my first purchase, a friend of mine told me to never ever get steel cased ammunition no matter what gun it is.

Being of a little stingy with my money, I saw and bought 200rds of 5.56 Tula Ammo. I've heard it's not bad to shoot them but the opposite as well.

I'm gonna throw this analogy out there and forgive me if it sounds stupid. Buying a nice gun is a bit similar to buying a BMW. It's fancy, it performs well, and it will be fine as long as you take care of it and keep up with its maintenance.

Does that thought add up and make sense when using Tula Ammo or any steel cased rds at that? As long as I take care of my gun it should be alright, correct?

OR, is it more along the lines of this analogy. Your gun is like a BMW, what you feed into it will affect it's performance. Always use fill up with premium unleaded and never anything less of quality. Would you guys say the same about your firearms with the type of ammo you use?

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All I shoot is steel 223, 7.62X39, and 7.62X54r for years and have had no problem. For MOST guns If your gun Can't run steel the problem is the gun.
Maintenance is more important than what type of shell.

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two experiences with Tula:
HK 91. Have owned since new in 86. Have fired EVERYTHING from that gun, including a lost weekend where we went through two ammo cans of crappy surplus without cleaning, runs like a watch. 1 box of 20 steel cased Tula 308 and two FTF
1 box of .380 steel cased ammo. My AMT 380 backup which is pretty reliable jammed 2x. My wife's brand new Sig 238 wont even CHAMBER it. Both ran 200 rounds of either my reloads or white box winchester without a hiccup. I think it is probably great stuff for a loose AK but ymmv....

Try it, if it works then go for it. I had a mega stuck case in my mini 14 about 15 years back and vowed never again.

I'll not be using it ever again

The mini 14 is a 223 and I thought the tula is 556... if that is the case then the over pressure of the .556 in a 223 chamber would jam the gun and possibly "blow the gun up" or rather crack the receiver. I have never shot steel ammo, but that is because I am a cheap bastard and I want the cases to reload...

The mini 14 is a 223 and I thought the tula is 556... if that is the case then the over pressure of the .556 in a 223 chamber would jam the gun and possibly "blow the gun up" or rather crack the receiver. I have never shot steel ammo, but that is because I am a cheap bastard and I want the cases to reload...

You got me wondering, so I did a search.

Tula is 223

I put Tula 556 in the search engine but all I found was 223

I agree on the loading your own ammo as well. The Steel case stuff was given to me.

It is not that it is so bad, the steel case is a mild steel and "should" not harm the gun.... But steel does not give as much as brass and it can be a little more sticky in some guns. Some guns love steel some don't. I know that a lot of the competition speed shooters that are pounding thousands of 45 a month have started to shoot steel case because it is cheaper (and most only shoot factory). The ones that I have had a chance to talk to say they have not noticed any gun damage.

I recently finished building my AR and have not been able to take it to even get zeroed yet. Got 240 rds of Federal 5.56 and a couple of days ago is when I got the Tula Ammo sorta on impulse. So not entirely sure yet what my AR really loves to get fed.

For now I think I'm gonna stick with wishful thinking and rely on maintaining my guns.

__________________
"You are never out of the fight." - Marcus Luttrell

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

The steel used to make cases is almost as soft as brass, so it will not ham your gun. The only problem is that the steel does not expand and seal the chamber as good as brass, so you get more carbon/soot buildup in the chamber. As long as you clean the chamber and throat properly you will not have a problem. Most people had a problem shooting brass after using a lot of steel without cleaning the chamber.

So when I first started doing research about guns prior to my first purchase, a friend of mine told me to never ever get steel cased ammunition no matter what gun it is......

Like many blanket rules, this has a glaring exception. Commie guns are built to run on steel cased ammo, and they run on it very well.

But presumably you're talking about ARs. A few years back some magazine did a pretty comprehensive study comparing steel vs brass (i'm sure someone will link to it soon) but their conclusion was that steel wears down a barrel much faster than brass, but the cost savings was good enough that one could just buy another barrel & still come out ahead.

The takeaway from that is that yes you can run steel, but expect accelerated wear. A few hundred rounds won't make a difference, this test involved 5000+ rounds per barrel in a span of just a few days.

Personally I only use brass because i reload so I want the brass. Also, western-produced ammo is a bit more accurate. But I wouldn't be concerned about steel case on occasion.

The mini 14 is a 223 and I thought the tula is 556... if that is the case then the over pressure of the .556 in a 223 chamber would jam the gun and possibly "blow the gun up" or rather crack the receiver. I have never shot steel ammo, but that is because I am a cheap bastard and I want the cases to reload...

mini-14 will shoot 5.56 just fine. ruger even states this in their documentation. I've ran tula 223 in my mini and never had a problem. works fine. not great ammo, just good inexpensive range fodder. then again, isn't like a mini is a tack driver but the stuff is accurate enough to have fun with. I've also shot 5.56 and it shot fine.

as for AR's, most of the internet lore is just that. if you're shooting a match grade rifle, then you might notice issues. if you're shooting a milspec variety, won't notice much. if the steel does wear a chamber faster, you'd have to shoot many thousands and thousands of rounds before it became an issue. probably far more than most shooters would ever approach. I wouldn't worry about it.

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